Proposition 71: Let a 1,000 Langleys bloom?
Californiastemcellreport documents the flocking of stem cell workers to California. The report had noted that Thomson (of the patents challenged by FTCR and PubPat) was setting up a presence at UC Santa Barbara [UCSB]. The report also noted Peter Mountford but did not mention his controversial patent (US 7,256,041).
One notes incoming Nissim Benvenisty also has a patent presence (US 7,045,353, Directed differentiation of human embryonic cells) as does incoming Shinya Yamanaka (US 7,250,255, Genes with ES cell-specific expression).
But, what if 21st century Wright Brothers equivalents stole the show and Steinbrenner didn't win the World Series? Or, what if all these diverse patent holders don't play nice in the Proposition 71 sandbox?
One notes incoming Nissim Benvenisty also has a patent presence (US 7,045,353, Directed differentiation of human embryonic cells) as does incoming Shinya Yamanaka (US 7,250,255, Genes with ES cell-specific expression).
But, what if 21st century Wright Brothers equivalents stole the show and Steinbrenner didn't win the World Series? Or, what if all these diverse patent holders don't play nice in the Proposition 71 sandbox?
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 2:29 PM
1 Comments:
10news.com reports on August 20, 2007:
the egg cells at Oceanside-based International Stem Cell Corp. were never fertilized, there was no conception and thus no embryo, according to Jeff Krstich, the company's president and chief executive, the North County Times reported.
Thus, research involving the company's stem cells should meet President George W. Bush's requirements for federal funding, Krstich told the Times. Citing moral concerns, Bush in 2001 banned the use of federal dollars for research on embryonic stem cells created after August of that year.
Evan Snyder, head of the stem cell research program at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, agrees with Krstich about the funding, but said proving that the company's cells work is the big challenge, the Times reported.
Embryonic stem cells are normally taken from days-old human embryos made by normal fertilization. To be used in therapy, stem cells must be transformed, or differentiated, into the needed cell type, then transplanted into the patient.
"I just think it remains to be seen how normal they would behave when differentiated, and most importantly, when transplanted," Snyder told the Times.
Researchers around the world are investigating whether embryonic stem cells can be used to treat diseases and injuries. Krstich said his company's "parthenogenetic" cells could be used to treat people with diabetes, eye and liver disease by as early as next year, the Times reported.
IPBiz notes that SNU investigators had established in May 2006 that the results of Hwang's FIRST paper in Science were the result of parthenogenesis, a result recently confirmed by U.S. workers. The interrelation of parthenogenesis and the Bush stem cell limitations has already been discussed.
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